From an impoverished family, Hugo Chávez joined the army for a chance to play baseball, but soon came to love the service that gave the opportunity for advancement to anyone based on hard work and performance. Disgusted by the corruption, censorship and human rights abuses of the Venezuelan government, the young officer started a secret organization in the military, the Bolivarian Revolutionary Movement-200 (MBR-200), to overthrow the dictatorship. As one of the most popular teachers in the Venezuelan Military Academy, he recruited young officers for ten years. Caught red-handed twice and brought before a tribunal for subversion, Chávez managed to brazenly talk his way out of the charges both times. He was so successful that by the time he led a coup d’état in 1992 to overthrow President Carlos Andrés Pérez, he had 130 officers and nearly 900 soldiers under his command, approximately ten percent of the Venezuelan military. Read more . . . → Read More: “Hugo Chávez Rewrote the Textbook for Social Change: Activists should learn from both his successes and failures”

Starting now the Proutist Universal Global Office will publish a quarterly e-newsletter called “Global Impact: Prout News and Commentaries”. The purpose of this online publication is to share the work of Proutists throughout the world, learn about new programs and strategies, encourage PROUT commentaries on current events and topics, and deepen our understanding of theory and practice through insightful analysis.

We are very excited about our first issue! Proutists from around the globe—Brazil, Germany, Guatemala, India, Korea, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, Romania, USA, and Venezuela—have contributed their amazing experiences in the field. From Nigeria, we learn about how AMURT workers are effectively applying Prout strategies in rural areas. And our analysis section cuts through the smokescreen of austerity programs being imposed by global financial institutions on debtor nations and offers some Prout alternatives.

If you are interested in receiving this quarterly newsletter, please click on the following link and sign up: http://eepurl.com/bal2a1. We encourage you to share this link with other Proutists who would be interested in receiving this newsletter. We also invite you to contribute to our Spring issue coming out in April. For more information about the newsletter and how you can submit your articles, email globalimpact@prout-global.org.

The educational process is a holistic phenomenon, where external objectivity is transformed into internal subjectivity. It goes beyond the school walls, or the family environment, or any other human relations. It goes even beyond that, straight into our own beings; it involves the universe around us and the way our souls interact with it. It does not depend on a particular school approach either, it simply happens as life does.

The Neohumanist Education framework and its learning methods encompass this holistic vision – physical, mental and spiritual – and aim for the liberation of all from exploitation sentiments (such as geo-sentiment and socio-sentiment) in order to achieve a free human society, in harmony and love within our environment. . . . → Read More: Neohumanism In Action in Venezuela

by Dada Maheshvarananda Solidarity, cooperation, and community empowerment are positive values promoted in Venezuela in contrast to the individualism and selfishness promoted by the corporate-owned mass media. Cooperatives are quietly transforming people’s values in Venezuela, and the rest of the world, though they have been mostly ignored by the mass media and by many political leaders, too.

The International Cooperative Alliance defines a cooperative as “an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise.” Worker cooperatives develop trust, solidarity, and teamwork.

Because cooperatives promote socialist values, it is natural that the Bolivarian government once promoted cooperatives in Venezuela; what is surprising is that now it does not. . . . → Read More: The Silent Success of Cooperatives in Venezuela

Former Prout volunteer Sascha Bercovitch was awarded the prestigious Hoopes Prize for outstanding scholarly research in his undergraduate thesis: “THE BOLIVAR ARCHIVE: Politicizing the Past in Venezuela, 1962-2010″ by Alexander Philip Bercovitch, thesis submitted to Harvard University for his degree in Latin American History. Download the pdf file, 148 pages. Dada Maheshvarananda says, “This is a really great work. Clear, well-written, it packs a lot of Venezuelan history and politics into this fascinating story.” And the best news of all, in our opinion, is that Sascha is returning to Venezuela for another year! Harvard has given him a fellowship to study the political processes in the Caracas barrios from mid July 2014 to July 2015. . . . → Read More: Sascha Bercovitch awarded Hoopes Prize for outstanding thesis on Bolivar Archive

Centro Madre is a National Model of Small Scale Sustainable Agriculture by Dada Maheshvarananda, Director of the Prout Research Institute of Venezuela, published in Venezuelan Analysis.

On only 3.5 hectares (8 acres) of fertile land near San José de Barlovento in the state of Miranda, a two-hour drive from Caracas, this holistic farm integrates fruit trees, vegetables, medicinal plants, bee-keeping, fish ponds, egg-laying chickens, worm production and a commercial guava nursery. For five years Cuban agronomists dedicated numerous hours each week to this flourishing project. The Center gets many visitors each day, including local farmers, university agriculture students and school classes. The Banco de Venezuela acknowledged this progressive project by awarding $23,000 to build a community store that will open next month. Both the national and local governments have recognized Centro Madre as an excellent model for small scale sustainable agriculture and food security. . . . → Read More: Centro Madre is a National Model of Small Scale Sustainable Agriculture

“What is Neohumanism, and What is Neohumanist Education?” by Eric Jacobson, Director Progressive School of Long Island, NY, USA. Presentation at the Global Conference on Neohumanist Education, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela on April 14, 2014.

What is Neohumanism? If you can imagine two ideas and respond to eight questions, then the answer will become obvious. Shall we try it? These two imaginations and eight questions come from a children’s song that I wrote to help students clearly understand the meaning of Neohumanism. If they are capable of understanding it, you certainly can too! Ready? . . . → Read More: “What is Neohumanist Education?” by Eric Jacobson